Serve the People: Become One with the People

For the last six months members of our collective have joined workers in
their daily struggles on the job. While it is too early to provide a
comprehensive summation of our experiences thus far inside these work
places, we offer the following observations which we think may be of use
to collectives attempting to forge mass links through fusing with the
masses.1

1

Regular meetings outside the workplace are key for advancing
conversations and political development. This has been one dividing
line, among others, by which we have been able to identify workers who
see a basis for actively opposing oppression and exploitation. Their
interest in initial earnest collective struggle at the worksite can be
contrasted to those who represent ideas and stands typical of the broad
left. Repeatedly, those in this latter category who are outwardly
“political”—i.e. those who fixate on electoral politics or liberal
solutions like Sanders—have been some of the more reactionary members of
the workplace. This often coincides with forms of explicit liberal
identity politics and implicit white chauvinism. While such individuals
have the appearance of being politically engaged, when it comes to
issues in the workplace—which are right in front of them—they generally
stand with management, snitch, and police others who may break the
rules. Conversely, we have laid a foundation for collective proletarian
struggle by confronting supervisors and challenging anti-worker
policies, and by working to build unity with those who are willing to
meet up to discuss issues, not with those who merely have the appearance
form of being politically engaged.

2

The challenges faced in this endeavor, as with most revolutionary work,
are arduous and entail overcoming many obstacles. Engaging in mass work
at proletarian work places with pairs of comrades has been beneficial. A
small collectivity is necessary to sustain initiative in multiple
respects. It helps to overcome subjectivism, provides an initial
grouping upon which to build, and allows comrades to have more diverse
engagement with workers throughout the workplace. In the course of such
work, setbacks can appear draining at first. But through a patient
approach that prioritizes building deep links over a “do it now!” style
of work, new paths have already started to open up.

3

We are going against the current in multiple respects, some of them
unique to our moment. In the 1960s some of the masses were active in
revolutionary movements. Others were aware that unions should serve the
interest of workers even if these unions overwhelmingly betrayed workers
through mediation with management. Today, lacking a revolutionary
movement in this country, we are starting from an even weaker position.
We have seen that management broadly in the U.S. has seized upon
historic defeats of the workers’ movement. It has imposed new measures
to isolate workers and to enforce the idea that workers are disposable
and should aspire to sell-out their fellow workers for a few scraps or
be grateful to subsist on a bare minimum scarcely sufficient for them to
reproduce their daily existence. However, things do not have to be this
way, and we must demonstrate this in theory and practice to workers. The
present reality and historical examples provide rich material to draw
upon in meetings, confrontations, and in one-on-one conversations.
Through a collective approach to organizing, and by drawing on the
history of revolutionary struggles, we have been able to operate from a
position of strength despite our relative isolation.

4

Comrades entered these workplaces not out of personal convenience, but
instead for the purpose of fusing with the masses, and transforming the
nascent resistance of the masses into a force capable of overcoming
reactionaries and reactionary ideas. The process is a long and
protracted one, in which links with the masses always takes precedence
over spectacle and proletarian politics takes precedence over
revolutionary form and imagery.

5

Building sustained links with mass contacts has proven to be vital not
only to workplace organizing but to our early attempts at neighborhood
organization. This entails basic but important work, such as following
up with contacts, comradely discussions over how and where to focus our
efforts, discussions about the drafting of fliers and the planning of
group events. This also entails taking the ideas that people have
seriously, while being willing and eager to correct our own mistakes. We
cannot expect members of the masses to become revolutionaries overnight.
Instead, we must struggle against the current to forge the conditions
and relationships to sustain comradely discussions with contacts on a
protracted and planned basis.

6

We have held regular collective studies throughout this period, which
has been essential for our overall political development. Through
studying dialectical materialism and revolutionary history we have been
able to apply lessons non-mechanically. This includes recognizing the
qualitative differences in the work we are engaged in now, and work that
becomes possible after prolonged engagement with mass contacts through
the course of political struggles. A collective approach to study,
including sharing responsibility for presenting content, has been
important to this process.

As always we look forward to sharing our ongoing experience with
collectives interested in engaging in similar work.

“To destroy self-interest and promote devotion to the public interest, it
is necessary to handle the relations between revolutionary interests and
one’s personal interests correctly. This is a line which marks off those
comrades who are serving the people wholly and entirely from those who are
serving with certain reservations or halfheartedly. To serve the people
wholly and entirely, we must put above all else the interests of the
revolution, the people and the liberation of all mankind. Personal
interests must be subordinated to the revolutionary interests
unconditionally. Chairman Mao has taught us: “At no time and in no
circumstances should a Communist place his personal interests first; he
should subordinate them to the interests of the nation and of the masses.”
(The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War) Certain
comrades choose between different kinds of work. They are willing to do
work that gives them higher wages and more favourable conditions, but not
work that does not. They are glad to do work that conforms to their own
aspirations, but not work which goes against their aspirations. They like
to do work that can bring them fame, but not work that cannot. In short,
they place personal interests first. This has nothing to do with the idea
of serving the people wholly and entirely. The experience gained by many
people illustrates that when people think only of themselves they become
narrow-minded, and when they think of nothing but revolution they become
open-minded.” It get at what we are really trying to do by joining these
workplace struggles and working to transform their dominant character.”

“In order to serve the people and carry out the tasks of revolution, our
revolutionary ranks must solve the question of internal and external unity.
Unity is strength. Only when unity is reached within our revolutionary
ranks and between our revolutionary ranks and the broad masses of the
people under the great red banner of Mao Tse-tung’s thought to form a solid
militant entity can gigantic power be generated to defeat the enemy,
overcome difficulties and win victories in revolution and construction.
Chairman Mao has pointed out: “The unification of our country, the unity of
our people and the unity of our various nationalities—these are the basic
guarantees of the sure triumph of our cause.” (On the Correct Handling of
Contradictions Among the People) Our proletarian revolutionary fighters
must pay great attention to the immense significance of revolutionary
unity.” ↩